Depressed mood or anxiety exhibited in COVID-19 patients may possibly be a sign the virus affects the central nervous system, according to an international study led by a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researcher. These two psychological symptoms were most closely associated with a loss of smell and taste rather than the more severe
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have discovered a new link between impaired brain energy metabolism and delirium – a disorienting and distressing disorder particularly common in the elderly and one that is currently occurring in a large proportion of patients hospitalised with COVID-19. While much of the research was conducted in mice, additional work suggests
Data presented by researchers from GliaLab at the Letten Centre at the University of Oslo lends further support that astrocytes are important to assure proper slow wave sleep. This finding that a non-neuronal cell type is crucial for appropriate slow wave sleep will guide future studies aimed at deciphering the mechanisms of and identifying novel
Researchers at Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, recently examined underlying brain networks in long-term cannabis users to identify patterns of brain connectivity when the users crave or have a desire to consume cannabis. While regional brain activation and static connectivity in response to cravings have been studied before, fluctuations
Major changes in public health policy similar to those seen for cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption are required for the public to make the connection between nutrition and brain health and alter their diet to improve mental health, urged a panel of experts. The topic of nutrition and mental health was debated on 29th June
Working with researchers from Ohio State University, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network’s CARE project discovered that a majority of survivors have lived through extensive violence directed at the head, neck and face, and through strangulation. At ODVN’s Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury, Director Rachel Ramirez said such injuries can be linked to brain trauma. According
A plea issued by 239 scientists from around the world to recognize and mitigate airborne transmission of COVID-19 addressed to international health authorities is to be published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The 239 signatories from 32 countries come from many different areas of science and engineering, including virology, aerosol physics, flow dynamics, exposure and
A blood biomarker in people who have had concussions may be just as accurate at predicting the severity of the injury and how long it will last as biomarkers that are obtained through more expensive and invasive tests, according to a study published in the July 8, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of
A new study brings neural-level evidence that the continuous variation in natural speech makes the discrimination of phonemes challenging for adults suffering from developmental reading-deficit dyslexia. This may compromise the learning of native language phonemes already at an early age for infants at familial risk for dyslexia. The participants listened to a stream of Finnish
There’s considerable controversy over whether “COVID toes”–red sores or lesions on the feet and hands in children and young adults–are truly caused by COVID-19. A new study published in the British Journal of Dermatology provides evidence in support of the link. In most cases, affected individuals test negative with traditional COVID-19 tests involving throat swabs and measurements
Light to moderate weekly alcohol consumption during middle age could help preserve brain function as we get older. Compared to non-drinkers, those who had a drink or two a day tended to have better performance on cognitive tests over time. The study examined the link between alcohol consumption and changes in cognitive function over time
A study of 153 patients treated in UK hospitals during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic describes a range of neurological and psychiatric complications that may be linked to the disease and is published today in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. Dr Benedict Michael, lead-author of the study, from The University of Liverpool said: “There have been
Some COVID-19 patients who receive hospital care exhibit clinical signs of brain damage, according to a study which says the chemical signatures of such neurological injury can be used to monitor the disease progression in those who are severely infected by the novel coronavirus. The study, published in the journal Neurology, assessed blood samples taken
A study published online as an accepted paper in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that increased physical activity is associated with a lower risk of obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep-related breathing disorder. The study is the largest to date focused on the relationship between sleep apnea and levels of physical activity in the general
Researchers seeking to unravel the mysteries of how our amazingly complex brains do what they do, often start with the eye. An extension of neural tissue connecting the eye and brain, the retina, the light-sensing tissue at the back of the eye has long been a model for scientists to explore how the brain works.
Even athletes who don’t experience concussion but suffer repeated jolts or falls inherent in contact sports can experience subtle and cumulative brain changes, new imaging research suggests. A group of female college rugby players who had not experienced a concussion for at least 6 months prior to or during the study and who showed no outward symptoms
Most of us know that feeling of trying to retrieve a memory that does not come right away. You might be watching a romantic comedy featuring that famous character actor who always plays the best friend and find yourself unable to recall her name (it’s Judy Greer). While memory retrieval has been the subject of
UC Davis MIND Institute researchers found an unexpected set of mental illnesses in patients with a spectrum of a rare genetic disorder. Their study revealed the need for clinicians to consider the complexities of co-existing conditions in patients with both psychological and fragile X associated disorders. Fragile X syndrome patients with prematuration had a much
Certain patients who receive hospital care for coronavirus infection (COVID-19) exhibit clinical and neurochemical signs of brain injury, a University of Gothenburg study shows. In even moderate COVID-19 cases, finding and measuring a blood-based biomarker for brain damage proved to be possible. Some people infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 get only mild, cold-like symptoms, while
Dexamethasone, a steroid in use for decades, reduced deaths of COVID-19 patients on ventilators by about a third compared with standard care, researchers reported in a news release June 16. Deaths of COVID-19 patients on supplemental oxygen were reduced by about 20 percent. Researchers found no benefit for hospitalized patients who didn’t need extra oxygen. If the
